Ledgemont School District in dire straights if emergency levy fails

Ledgemont School District Superintendent Julie Ramos recently delivered a dire message regarding an emergency levy set for a special election in May -- "It is the only viable option for sustaining Ledgemont Schools as we know them."

The 14.7-mill, five-year emergency levy, unanimously passed by school board members at a meeting earlier this week, would cost $450.19 per $100,000 of property valuation, according to the Geauga County Auditor's Office.

Included in the levy resolution was the need to raise $1.5 million annually for five years to prevent operating in a deficit situation.

With current coffers tapped to the max and future monetary relief in question, school officials have been directed by an Ohio Department of Education fiscal commission to pursue a levy in a sufficient amount to sustain the district as well as engage in fact finding meetings to explore mergers.

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The commission, which approves all expenditures and contracts for the district, was assigned in 2010 after $2 million in revenue was lost because of an expired income tax that took six attempts and two years to replace.

To keep the struggling district afloat, $2.17 million was advanced by the state in late 2010. The district suffered another hit in July 2011 when a new state budget was passed and funding to schools was reduced.

"We receive about half of our funds from the state, the other half comes from local taxes," Ramos said. "When the fiscal oversight commission became aware of the drop in revenues, they directed the school board to approve a revised fiscal recovery plan by Jan. 9, 2012, that would demonstrate that our revenues would exceed our expenditures and allow for the pay back of their loan. This required that the board cut expenditures for the current school year wherever possible and make further cuts for the 2012-13 school year in the amount of $600,000."

On top of the first loan, two others have been granted to Ledgemont Schools in efforts to keep up operations.

Despite the need for income, district residents rejected a 3.4-mill five-year emergency levy in the November 2012 election by a 115-vote margin.

Jim Cozens was recently elected as school board vice president and has two sons who attend Ledgemont High School. He's concerned about the district's unsettling state of financial affairs.

"It's a do-or-die levy for us. We have to pass this levy," he said. "If it's passed we'll be able to continue as a small district. It will allow us to bring back some things we had to cut because of the past failure of the levy. We'll be able to repay the money to the state to able to stay solvent. If it fails it's not going to be good ... we're looking into consolidating."